Cyberattack at Delhaize: return to normal in Luxembourg after outage
Four Delhaize supermarkets in Luxembourg were hit by a cyberattack targeting refrigeration systems. The situation has now been restored, according to the group.
Delhaize: four Luxembourg supermarkets targeted by cyberattack on refrigeration systems
Four Delhaize supermarkets in Luxembourg, including the one in Strassen, fell victim to a large-scale cyberattack that disabled their refrigeration installations on Monday. According to L'Essentiel, the Belgian-Dutch group is among the many European retailers hit by this cyber offensive.
According to the DPA news agency, citing a Belgian refrigeration services provider, the systems were put into remote defrost mode. As a result, many supermarkets were forced to dispose of goods stored in their refrigerators and freezers.
Delhaize Belgium told L'Essentiel that "the situation has now returned to normal. Supplies are proceeding as planned and our stores are once again fully operational." The financial consequences for the retailer remain unknown at this stage.
The group did not respond to questions about the motivations and identity of the attackers. The Belgian daily Het Laatste Nieuws reports the analysis of Rafe Pilling, cybersecurity expert at Sophos, according to whom "the two most plausible scenarios are either a form of symbolic message from a state wanting to demonstrate its strength, or the work of a 'lone' hacker with personal motivations".
At the European level, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, denounced on Monday "extremely concerning repeated cyberattacks" and "a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumer confidence — a warning that we must take seriously".
Source: L'Essentiel